Connemara Peated Irish Whiskey
- Jeffrey Lavallee
- Jun 30
- 2 min read
VA ABC- $45.99
Total Wine - $ Not Available
Class VI - $54.90
40% ABV Age: NAS
From the VA ABC website: An aroma of sweet barley with wafts of peaty smoke, kippers and well baked apple crumble. Tastes of lightly honey sweet, subdued clean rather than sooty smoke with peaty vegetal notes, sweet barley water, light spice and vanilla oak.
Well ain’t that a hole in the boat… The whole point of Whiskey of the Week is to post bottles that we can relatively easily obtain here in the DMV area. I got through almost all of this post and remembered that I needed to get their prices at local liquor stores. Turns out, Total Wine only carries Connemara Single Malt 12 Year ($81.99). The price makes it clear that these are not the same whiskies. I thought about trashing the post, but it’s such a good pour that I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’ll try to be more careful next time.
Connemara is a Single Malt Irish Whiskey from the Kilbeggan Co. Distilling (Cooley Distillery).
They do not publish their mashbill (recipe) so we can only guess as to which grains are in it.
If you’re interested in trying a peated scotch, but put off by the price and the tales of peat horror, I highly recommend Connemara. The peatiness in a malted barley is measured by its phenol content – specifically by the phenols in parts per million. (There’s an excellent discussion on peat at Whiskey and Wisdom.) And while a peat powerhouse like Laphroaig (my favorite) is at 55ppm, Connemara is at a more approachable 15ppm. So you’re getting the best of both worlds: a smooth Irish whiskey and a nice introduction to the wonderful world of scotch all for a reasonable price. And don’t confuse ‘peat’ with smoke. If you don’t care for a peated scotch, don’t shy away from a smoky whiskey like High West’s Campfire Whiskey which is smoky but not peaty. That whiskey’s great too!
When you’re familiar with bourbons, Canadian whisky, Irish whiskey, and blended scotch and you want to venture into the world of peated single malts, Connemara is a great first step.
Whiskey of the Week:
Connemara Peated Irish Whiskey
A great entrée into peated scotches
